Only Big Fish

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September 7th 2018

 

I was back on the water again today, but this time with new power. The last two days were used for a motor installation. Although the old one was still running, it was time for a new one and the 250 Verado was now powering my boat!

Jon & Fred were with me today and smallmouth bass were the requested species. We were going to hit as many places as we could in the 9 hour day. With any luck, the fish would cooperate!

I made a long run with the new engine and was extremely happy with its performance. Not only was it powerful but it was so quiet while moving. The decision to begin here was twofold and the fishing wasn’t my first priority. I knew they were going to catch big smallies today!

The first hour only saw a few bass landed and I was wondering why. I needed to make a few adjustments if we were going to make it happen. With the cool overnight temps and chilly morning, I figured shallow was the place to be. Although they did have many chances, the landing ratio wasn’t great. Time for another move!

We made a decent run and I positioned the boat on a deep current break. They were going to be using it to present their baits downstream to the fish. A quick demonstration cast had me locked up and I gave the rod to John to land. It was the caliber that I was searching for!

We remained here for a little while and they fished the area thoroughly before we were done. Fred had landed a few nice smallies but Jon only managed to bring a northern to the net. Both had many chances and could have caught a bunch of big fish but the bites were weird. Some of the bass were even getting off after they were pinned! Another move was in order!

I was hoping to see more active fish and this time I decided on a shallow shoal that had been producing pretty good over the last couple of weeks. It didn’t take Fred long to bend a rod as he set into a nice smallie on his very first cast. Fred mostly fished on Lake Ontario for salmon and was really starting to like the action he was having with the bass. It also seemed like they were getting bigger too! Jon was finally starting to get in the game as well with a few of his own. They were mostly being caught on jigs but he also had a few really big ones jump off on other soft plastics as well.

I had remained in this area for some time now and although the action was great, it had slowed down considerably. I don’t know if it was because they had stung almost every fish or if it was due to the lack of wind & current. We kept moving and they kept picking at more fish along the way. Unfortunately we were seeing more than they were catching now and it was getting harder to get bit. With each fish they hooked, they were lucky to keep them on. Most were taking to the air immediately after and throwing the hooks. It wasn’t for lack of trying!

With limited time remaining, I still had a bunch of places that I wanted to fish and jumped around, looking for more action. Each one had a few fish but they seemed a little smaller and less aggressive. The wind had also started to build and now was blowing stronger, but from the W/NW. I decided to move to an open water spot in hopes of getting them into a few drop shot fish before we were done.

I instructed Fred on how to fish this presentation and they both dropped down in the deeper water. I wasn’t sure how the bite would be with the cross winds blowing us along but tried regardless. After a few short drifts and no bites, I decided to move to one final spot. It was here that Jon had multiple chances at fish but only managed to land one, under walleye. Fred pulled out a smallie in the final minutes before we were done. It was his first time drop shotting and he was happy to have landed a fish with this method. We were officially done and headed back to take out!

I covered a lot of water today and found fish everywhere we stopped. Some areas were more productive than others but they all held bass. I had wanted to get them into some big ones and succeeded! They both left having landed quality smallies but probably lost more than they caught. Some days are just like that and there’s nothing you can do. All I know is that Fred is officially hooked on the bass now and I’ll probably see him again in the near future. Another great day of fishing!!